1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network management system, and more particularly to a network management system and method of a Telecommunication Management Network.
2. Background of the Related Art
Due to a rapid development of the information and communication technology, the current trend for businesses is to connect and freely share data with other communication networks. However, even for businesses established in the same region, the network management platforms vary in both organization and communication method depending upon the company and standards established. Therefore, a global network management system that can effectively and cooperatively manage the different communication networks is required.
One such network management system is a Telecommunication Management Network (TMN) recommended by the ITU-T(CCITT). The TMN type network management system allows a unified management of all types of communication networks by providing a standardized interface for exchanging management information between communication devices in networks of various operation systems. More specifically, the TMN system utilizes an object-oriented information modeling technique and manager/agent concepts which underlying the Open System Interconnection (OSI) system management.
In the OSI system management, a system manager and an agent model are utilized such that the agent can manage objects. A managed object (MO) is generally an OSI abstract view of a logical or physical system resource to be managed. A MO class defines attributes of an object and a particular set of attribute is a MO instance. The MO instances have many relationships, of which the containment relationship is the primary relationship. Accordingly, the agent maintains a containment tree to express the containment relationships of the MO class instances.
Thus, the containment tree is a starting point of the agent's management operation as well as the core of MO management. The agent executes scoping of a priority containment tree in response to a management request from the manager. The scoping performed by the agent entails selecting scopes of the MO instances to be managed and carrying out the necessary management operation on the selected MO instance. The agent may also perform filtering by which a determination is made whether the management operations should be performed on the scoped MO.
In the TMN managed system, all MO instances are administered in a Management Information Tree (MIT) based on the containment relationship. The containment relationship allows one MO instance to contain one or more other MO instances, and a containing MO instance can be contained in other MO instances. Each MO instance can be identified with a unique name based on the containment relationship. A management operation can be requested on one or more MO instances by a managing system specifying the scope and filter parameters in the management operation primitives.
The network management applications that administer the network resources are developed based upon a network management platform. In general, network management platforms provide both run-time and development environments. The run-time environment is represented by common management services, which reflect the overall operability of a management platform. On the other hand, the development environment provides the portability for management applications and allows the integration of these applications into the platform services. The performance of a network management system relies upon the performance of the network management platform used.
During the process of performing management operations in a managed system, all executed codes are provided by a network management platform with the exception of user codes. The user codes can be added to satisfy a management system developer's requirements, e.g. interactions with real resource. In the TMN based network management system, management states and resources of network elements are modeled into MOs according to the Guidelines for the Definition of Managed Object (GDMO), and the management operation is requested from the manager based on Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP).
A MO code is generated when a GDMO file described by a user is processed through a GDMO compiler. Thereafter, the user adds a further code to the MO code. The MO code and a predetermined management operation code together with the network system are compiled to generate an executable network management system program. When the program is executed, the network management system enters a standby mode until a management command is received from the manager.
If a management command, such as ‘create,’ ‘get,’ ‘cancel-get,’ ‘delete,’ is received, the network management system executes a management operation on the designated MO. For example, if a management command is ‘create,’ the network management system executes a MO generating routine to create a new MO. For other management commands, the network management system executes a management operation on a MO selected from the containment tree. Upon completion of the management operation, the network management system returns the result to the manager and re-enters a standby mode.
When an operation of the network management system is not required, the execution of the network management system is also stopped. However, even when an element of the network management system needs to be modified, the execution of the network management system is also stopped. Namely, the network management system cannot dynamically manage the MO class. Accordingly, when a new MO class needs to be added or a MO class already in the network management system is to be modified, the MO class must be compiled in advance in the network management system prior to the execution of the management system. Therefore, to add a new MO class or to modify a MO class in the network management system, the on-going network management system must be stopped before a MO can be added or modified, and re-executed after the addition or modification.
As described above, the related art network management system has various disadvantages. To add a new MO class or to modify a MO class in the network management system, the on-going network management system must be stopped before a MO can be added or modified, and re-executed after the addition or modification. However, the process of stopping in the middle of operation and re-execution may take hours or even days depending upon the addition or modification. As numerous users utilize a network management system, stopping the network management system for even a short period of time is a fatal defect or a significant disadvantage to the network management system and users, and thereby the communication service.
To alleviate the impact, the network management system is stopped to add or modify a MO class when it is determined that there are relatively few users in the network system. Nevertheless, the network management system is still static and cannot dynamically support additions of new MOs or modification of MOs already in the network management system during the middle of the network management system operation.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.